A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “I made a difference to that one.”
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.
— Adapted from “The Star Thrower”, by Loren C. Eiseley
I made a difference to that one. Powerful, isn’t it?
I mean, I’m just one person. And certainly there have been individuals out there who have had a profound impact on my life.
For the last three-ish years, I’ve been in a mommy fog, of sorts. My kids are sort of all-consuming–right now, respectively, I have a newborn and a lovely hybrid of a terrible two/threenager. Every night, I collapse into my bed, completely exhausted. Every morning, I wake up and depend on coffee to keep me going.
But sometimes, as much as I love my kids, thinking about just them — pouring every last little bit I have into them — just doesn’t feel like enough. There’s a whole big world out there. There’s suffering and people with problems far more important than a broken banana. I want to give back, and I want to teach my children to give. I want it to be their default, as natural to them as going to school every day or hugging me when they wake up.
But oh, I’m tired. I work full-time, I chase the kids around, I have three pets and a husband. I cook dinner, I wash load after load of laundry, I guard the few precious moments I have to myself to get my hair cut or take a long bath like a squirrel with a golden acorn.
So what do you do? How do you give back when you feel like you’re completely spent?
A few years ago, I read an article about diaper need. I was shocked to realize that diapers aren’t covered by any form of public assistance. That article stuck with me, so I set up a monthly scheduled donation with Happy Bottoms, a diaper bank here in Kansas City. But it didn’t feel like enough.
I considered volunteering my time, until, after some reflection, I decided that a consistent commitment was just not something I could add to my plate right now. Such a great organization deserves volunteers who can show up every week–and I can’t do that as a working mom two young children, one of which breastfeeds round-the-clock on weekends.
So, I got creative. What do they need, other than volunteer time? Diapers. What’s the easiest way to get diapers? Well, Amazon Prime, of course! What DO I have to give? Extra garage space, generous friends and family, knowledge of social media, and at least enough time to coordinate a one-time drop-off.
So I started an Amazon baby registry from my iPhone, while nursing my three-month-old. I shared the link as widely as possible — on Facebook, via e-mail, with my mom groups, with KCMB.
And then, something magical happened. Diapers started showing up.
See, the thing is, more people are busy than are not, but also, more people want to do good than not. So, the key to success here is showing them just how easy it is, without crossing the line into slacktivism. Reach out, hand them a starfish, point to the ocean, and more often than not — people will throw.
Before I knew it, my porch was overflowing with boxes of diapers every day. I felt bad for my UPS guy. They came from all over the country, from strangers, from friends, from people I haven’t talked to in ages. My son helped open boxes and stack the packages and pop the bubble wrap. On Mother’s Day weekend, he excitedly filled boxes and helped load my car up.
By the end of the drive, we had collected more than 16,000 diapers. Enough to diaper roughly six kids for a full year.
I made a difference to that one.
So, when you have nothing left to give — here are some ways to work giving into your life:
- Blood donation: a one-at-a-time commitment, 30 minutes to an hour, and cookies. I go on my work lunch hour!
- Train for a race for charity. Multitask fitness and giving back! Team In Training is a great organization benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
- Grab some extra food next time you go to the grocery store and donate to a local food pantry. Harvester’s has donation bins all over the metro!
- Always forgetting to give money to organizations you love? Many charities these days offer auto-deduct, where you can set your credit or debit card up to charge any amount on a monthly basis.
- Get in the habit of buying all those late-night Prime purchases through Amazon Smile. Set your favorite charity, and 0.5% of your purchase price will be donated to them!
- Finally, BE CREATIVE! Think about what you have to give and how you can make that work for an organization you care about.
Any other suggestions? Add them in the comments.
